Hershey Company (The) $HSY Stock Position Trimmed by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Kestra Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,588 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,745 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Hershey by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Hershey by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,975,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HSY. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Hershey in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hershey from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.06.

Hershey Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:HSY opened at $170.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $161.29 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.38.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 108.19%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,485,753.85. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.